99
CH.99 Preparing for the New Semester (1)
- Seoul Holder Academy officially announces the recruitment of instructor Yoo Eun-seol
- The first S-grade instructor in the country... Will Holder education undergo major changes?
- Yoo Eun-seol, "I've always wanted to train the domestic assassin clique."
- A-grade Holder Jeong Seon-young decides to work as a short-term instructor following Yoo Eun-seol!
- Foundation Chairman Tak Yun-jae, "The academy will keep changing."
A room full of all kinds of wine.
On the small tablet on the table, headlines from countless articles were popping up like letters.
Next to it was a glass with a simple design.
Below was a finger rhythmically tapping the table.
Soft jazz was playing in the room.
"Hmm-"
Cha Soo-yeon smiled broadly as she skimmed through the articles.
The finger tapping the table rhythmically.
From that cheerful rhythm, you could feel her excitement.
"Branch manager. You called?"
A man with a sharp expression knelt down on one knee.
Ji Yoon-jae, a core member of the Villain clan's Academy branch.
Cha Soo-yeon turned her gaze from the tablet to him.
She still had a smile on her face.
"Yoon-jae, you're here?"
"Yes, branch manager."
"Hmm - Something fun happened."
Cha Soo-yeon's face looked quite happy.
And her gaze seemed fixed on the tablet.
Looking at her like that, Ji Yoon-jae cautiously asked.
"Is it a new order?"
"Yeah, it's quite fun."
As Cha Soo-yeon quickly flipped through the articles on the tablet, she said.
"Did you hear that Yoo Eun-seol is coming to the academy as an instructor?"
"Yes, I read about it in the news."
"Haha, it's fun. An S-grade Holder has come to teach the kids."
Ah.
As if she just remembered something, Cha Soo-yeon raised her head.
"Yoon-jae, you're in the same discipline, right?"
"Yes."
Yoo Eun-seol is an S-grade assassin Holder.
Naturally, the class she will teach will also be the assassin class.
And Ji Yoon-jae is a 1st year academy student, ranked second in the assassin class.
"Oh... I'm curious what it'll be like to attend an S-grade Holder's lecture."
"...Is that the order this time?"
"Huh? That's not it."
Putting away the tablet she was reading, Cha Soo-yeon took a sip of the wine from the glass.
"This time, the Gangnam guys screwed up so badly that all the major clans are joining forces to come after us, and our leadership is also pretty stressed about it."
Ji Yoon-jae listened closely with great tension.
Cha Soo-yeon usually doesn't explain clan affairs and operation details like this in detail.
She just gives orders about what he has to do.
The fact that she's saying this much means she's in a particularly good mood right now.
He couldn't miss this opportunity and had to focus.
If he didn't listen properly and messed up the operation, he'd be the one punished again.
"Hmm - So we've gotten another chance. Just in time, a big shot like Yoo Eun-seol has entered the academy, there's a lot of attention, so there are many things we can stir up."
The Gangnam branch's massive failure in targeting <Judgement of Fire>.
And with heightened vigilance between the clans and rekindled determination to annihilate <Villain>, the clan wanted to turn their eyes in a different direction.
The first direction was the Academy branch.
Just in time, an S-grade Holder like Yoo Eun-seol was coming in, and the attention on the 'Ha Do-kwon incident' that had caused turmoil at the academy had also subsided.
There would never be a more suitable time.
Cha Soo-yeon looked at Ji Yoon-jae with a deep smile.
"This time, I'm going to the scene myself."
"What?"
Ji Yoon-jae asked again, thinking he had misheard.
But from Cha Soo-yeon's following words, he realized he had heard correctly.
"Hmm - I was included in the list of instructors recruited along with Yoo Eun-seol. It's a shame the disciplines are different, though. I also wanted to teach that Do Jae-hyun you mentioned before in person."
Cha Soo-yeon was coming to the academy as a short-term instructor.
This was clearly a bold move.
There was a clear difference between recruiting people and stepping up herself.
Regardless of what direction the clan's operations would take going forward, having a branch manager-level figure on site meant the clan members could act much more freely.
As Cha Soo-yeon drank another sip of wine, she said,
"Oh, there's also that Kang Woo-hyun's daughter in the mage discipline, right? Hehe, good thing. I've always wanted to ruin her once."
Cha Soo-yeon talking about wanting to casually ruin the successor of <Judgement of Fire>, one of the top 3 clans, so nonchalantly.
Seeing the branch manager's creepy madness...
Ji Yoon-jae quietly bowed his head.
Even though he was also not normal as a member of the <Villain> clan, this woman was truly a psychopath.
If she wasn't his superior, he would never want to deal with her kind of person.
"Hmm - This will be fun."
And so, another upheaval was taking place.
***
Ippotranslation
***
After clearing the ‘Stained Rock Pile’ dungeon.
A few days later, the news officially announced 'Yoo Eun-seol's appointment as an academy instructor'.
Honestly, my eyes popped out in surprise.
Meeting S-grade Holder Yoo Eun-seol by chance in a dungeon was already amazing...
And after clearing that dungeon together, receiving an offer to party up for a special double dungeon, and even becoming an academy instructor.
The fact that I was a decisive factor in that decision.
It was even harder to believe.
- She had kept refusing before. Whether positive or negative, she seemed to have no interest in the academy at all. But after seeing you once, Do Jae-hyun, she immediately accepted.
It was what Professor Tak Won-ho, who led her recruitment, said.
The original plan was to introduce me to her last Sunday, but since we happened to meet by chance in the dungeon, there was no need for that.
Thanks to that, Yoo Eun-seol promptly accepted the position of academy instructor, and that fact was announced prominently in all kinds of newspapers that day.
An S-grade Holder becoming an academy instructor.
It was shocking news that became a huge issue in the Holder world.
"The course registration will be brutal."
At the academy's assassin department.
Let alone S-grade, there weren't even any A-grade instructors in the assassin department.
The quality of education was inevitably lacking.
That's why during my 1st semester, I only took one class.
Just a throwing skill-related class called <Understanding of Throwing>.
And now a lecture by Yoo Eun-seol, a super rare level of instructor, will open in that barren land...
Along with the passionate cheers of assassin students, there will surely be unprecedented competition for course registration.
“What is it?”
Hearing my mutter, Kang Juyeon in front of me asked.
I quickly snapped out of my daze and apologized.
“Ah, sorry. I was suddenly thinking about the academy.”
“...The academy?”
“Yeah. This time, S-grade Holder Yoo Eun-seol will come as a short-term instructor.”
“I see....”
“She's a really rare level of instructor for the assassin class, and this semester might be her last one, so... the competition for course registration will be intense.”
Yoo Eun-seol's instructor contract was only a short-term one.
She would work as an instructor this semester, but it was uncertain what would happen next semester.
A top-notch learning opportunity that you don't know when it will come again.
It was natural for students to be interested.
The server might crash on the day of course registration.
Bubble bubble-
Tss tss-
The prepared dishes were cooking nicely.
I tasted them bit by bit and adjusted the seasoning.
"It's almost done."
We were at a self-cooking concept restaurant.
Since I received so much help from Kang Juyeon after joining <Judgement of Fire> as an intern, I had been thinking for a while that I should treat her to a meal someday...
But it was uncomfortable in many ways to invite her over to my studio apartment.
Considering her social status, and who knows what trouble could happen if Kang Woo-hyun finds out about this.
So I found this self-cooking restaurant concept.
It was a unique concept restaurant located in Yeongdeungpo. Not only vegetables, greens, and other side ingredients, but also various cooking utensils and seasonings needed for cooking were equipped.
"...What are you making now?"
"This is galbi-jjim (braised short ribs). Here's japchae (stir-fried glass noodles). Ah, this is shiitake mushroom... Do you remember the Korean restaurant we went to together last time?"
"Yeah."
"I tried making it with reference to the shiitake mushrooms we ate there. Try it and compare the taste."
Although I had eaten with Kang Juyeon many times after joining <Judgement of Fire>, I rarely cooked for her myself.
At best, I grilled some meat for her in the company cafeteria?
So this time, I properly treated her to a meal.
The menu was Korean food.
My own course meal was inspired by the Korean restaurant we went to last time.
Nom-
Kang Juyeon picked up her chopsticks and tried the shiitake mushrooms first.
With her trademark curt expression, she chewed the mushrooms.
Even though I knew my [Cooking] skill was now good enough to surpass most chefs, I still tensely asked.
“How is it?”
“...Delicious.”
Fortunately, the result was the best.
Getting a ‘delicious’ verbal reaction instead of just a nod from Kang Juyeon means it really tasted good.
I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
“Compared to the restaurant last time?”
“Yeah. It’s softer.”
Getting such high praise with additional explanation, I was finally able to comfortably continue cooking.
Soon, most of the dishes were completed and...
“Let’s eat well.”
“...Let’s eat well.”
We started eating together.
The ensuing casual conversation about this and that.
The conversation pattern was always similar.
I would ask questions and Kang Juyeon would answer.
Since Kang Juyeon had a quiet personality to begin with, and I preferred leading conversations anyway.
Of course, when the topic of clans came up, Kang Juyeon would sometimes take over the conversation.
“There are only 2 weeks left until the semester starts.”
“...You’re right.”
The topic of this conversation was 'the start of a new semester', an extension of the previous talk about Yoo Eun-seol.
The long vacation is ending, and the semester starts in 2 weeks.
The meaningful <Judgement of Fire> internship was also nearing its end.
While talking about the beginning of the semester and preparations, I suddenly asked Kang Juyeon.
“Which club will you join?”
Clubs.
Similar to ‘circles’ in high school or college, a variety of gatherings within the academy with no restrictions on common hobbies, runes, disciplines, etc.
1st years can join starting 2nd semester, and can participate until the graduation semester of 3rd year.
It was a gathering you could experience in most schools, a common trope that appeared ordinarily in novels.
But for Kang Juyeon, clubs were quite important.
The club she would join in 2nd semester, <Flame Dance>.
More precisely, the 3rd year club president Yoon Ji-ah.
After meeting her, who demonstrated the ability of a mature flame, B-grade Holder, Kang Juyeon gradually grew into an A-grade Holder.
It was the fertilizer and wall for her growth.
<Flame Dance> held that kind of meaning for Kang Juyeon.
It was a huge opportunity for Kang Juyeon's growth in the mid-late part of the story.
So even though I knew she would obviously join <Flame Dance>, I still asked just in case...
With all the recent deviations from the original, I asked to be sure.
And...
“...What about you?”
As expected, the developments strayed again.
Damn.
Again, a-gain.
Why the hell is she curious about which club I'm joining?